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diff --git a/11361-0.txt b/11361-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1047ffd --- /dev/null +++ b/11361-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1528 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11361 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11361-h.htm or 11361-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/6/11361/11361-h/11361-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/6/11361/11361-h.zip) + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 13, NO. 377.] SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Loch Goil Head + + +[Illustration: Loch Goil Head] + + +AND RESIDENCE OF CAMPBELL, THE POET. + + +The Engraving represents Loch Goil Head, a small village in Argyleshire, +as it name imports, at the end of Loch Goil. It is an exquisite vignette, +of Alpine sublimity, and is rendered extremely interesting as the +residence of Thomas Campbell, Esq. author of the "Pleasures of Hope," &c. +and one of the most celebrated of British poets. His _château_, or +retreat, is represented on the left of the Engraving, and its romantic +position has probably inspired many of the soul-stirring compositions of +the illustrious resident. + +In this parish are the remains of Carrick Castle, which is said to have +been built by the Danes. It stands on a rock, and was formerly surrounded +by a ditch filled by the sea. The whole county in which Loch Goil is +situate, is indeed a region of romantic beauty and mountain wild; of the +last, Ben Cruchan is a sublime specimen, rising 3,300 feet above the +level of the sea. At Inverary, the splendid castle of the Duke of Argyle +rears in all the pride of art amidst the more lasting sublimities of +nature; and in the same vicinity is Loch Lomond, whose limpid streams +bathe the foot of Ben Lomond, where the tourist is fascinated with one of +the most glorious scenes in nature. The valley of Glencoe, too, is not +far distant, with all its opposite associations of massacre and maurauder, +by its severe and desert aspect, recalling to the traveller's mind the +most elevated defiles of the Alps, and whose massive heaps of rocks +covered with shaggy turf are the only charms to gladden the eye. At +Ardinglass, a few miles from Loch Goil, begins the country of _the +Campbells_, storied and consecrated with some of the most brilliant +epochs of Scottish lore. + +The steam-boat on the lake is an attractive object in such a district as +Loch Goil--by associating one of the boasted triumphs of art with the +stupendous grandeur of the sublime. + + * * * * * + + +HILLAH ON THE EUPHRATES. + + +The town of Hillah lies in latitude 32 deg. 31 min. 18 sec.; in longitude +12 min. 36 sec. west of Bagdad, and according to Turkish authorities, was +built in the fifth century of the Hegira, in the district of the +Euphrates, which the Arabs call El-Ared-Babel. Lying on a part of the +site of Babylon, nothing was more likely than that it should be built out +of a few of the fragments of that great city. The town is pleasantly +situated amidst gardens and groves of date trees; and spreads itself on +both sides of the river, where it is connected by a miserable wooden +bridge, the timbers of which are so rotten, that they tremble under the +foot of the passenger. The portion of the town, or as it is usually +called, the suburb, on the eastern bank, consists of one principal street +or bazaar, reaching from the small defenceless gate by which it is +entered from Bagdad, down to the edge of the water; this is deemed the +least considerable part of Hillah. On the other side, the inhabitants, +Jews, Turks, and Arabs, are much thicker, and the streets and bazaars +more numerous. + +From the great central bazaar, well filled with merchandize, branch off +in various directions minor ranges, amongst which are found the fish and +flesh markets. In the former are several varieties, and some of enormous +size, resembling the barbel. The fish in question is from 4 to 5 feet +long, and is covered with very large, thick scales. The head is about +one-third part of the length of the fish. They are said to eat coarse and +dry, but are, nevertheless, a favourite food with the inhabitants; and +are caught in great quantities near the town, and to a considerable +distance above it. The flesh market is sparingly served with meat, for +when Sir Robert Ker Porter visited the town, he states that the whole +contents of the market appeared to be no more than the dismembered +carcasses of two sheep, two goats, and the red, rough filaments of a +buffalo. This display was but scant provision for a population of 7,000. +The streets are narrow like those of Bagdad; a necessary evil in Eastern +climates, to exclude the power of the sun; but they are even more noisome +and filthy. In like manner also, they are crowded, but not with so many +persons in gay attire. Here are to be seen groups of dark, grim-looking, +half-naked Arabs, sitting idly on the sides of the streets, and so +numerously, as scarcely to leave room for a single horse to pass; and +even a cavalcade in line will not alarm them, so indifferent are they, +even when travellers are compelled, at some abrupt turn, almost to ride +over them. A few sombre garbed Israelites, and occasionally the Turks, +attendant on official duties of the Pashalic in this part of the +government, also mingle in the passing or seated crowd; when the solemn, +saturnine air of the latter, with their flowing, gaudy apparel, forms a +striking contrast to the daring, dirty, independent air of the almost +ungarmented, swarthy Arab. + +A few paces above the bridge, stands the palace of the governor, and the +citadel, which was built by order of Ali Pasha. This imposing fortress, +externally, is a handsome, smooth-faced, demi-fortified specimen of +modern Turkish architecture, erected with ancient materials. Within is a +spacious court, partly shaded with date trees. The whole of the town +towards the desert is defended by a pretty deep ditch, overlooked by a +proportionate number of brick-built towers (all the spoil of Babylon) +flanking the intermediate compartments of wall. In this rampart are three +gates. + +As far as the eye can reach, both up and down the river, the banks are +thickly shaded with groves of dates, displacing, it should seem, the +other species of trees, from which Isaiah names this scene "the Brook or +Valley of Willows," although the humble races of that graceful tribe, in +the osier, &c. are yet the prolific offspring of its shores. + +G.L.S. + + * * * * * + + +CURIOUS EXTRACTS FROM CURIOUS AUTHORS, FOR CURIOUS READERS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +Hollingshed, who was contemporary with Queen Elizabeth, informs us, +"there were very few chimneys (in England in his time) even in the capital +towns; the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued out at the +roof, or door, or window. The houses were wattled, and plastered over +with clay, and all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people +slept on straw pallets, with a log of wood for a pillow." + +Cambrensis, Bishop of St. David's, says, "It was the common vice of the +English, from their first settlement in Britain, to expose their children +and relations to sale;" and it also appears, "that the wife of Earl +Godwin, who was sister to Canute, the Danish King of England, made great +gain by the trade she made of buying up English youths and maids to sell +to Denmark." + +Lord Bacon in his Apophthegms, says, "Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, +in a famine, sold all the rich vessels and ornaments of the church, to +relieve the poor with bread; and said, 'There was no reason that the dead +temples of God should be sumptuously furnished, and the living temples +suffer penury.'" Ingulphus tells us, "For want of parchment to draw the +deeds upon, great estates were frequently conveyed from one family to +another, only by the ceremony of a turf and a stone, delivered before +witnesses, and without any written agreement." Andrews, in his History of +Great Britain, says, "In France, A.D. 1147, the great vassals emulated +and even surpassed the sovereign in pomp and cost of living." As an +instance of the wild liberality of the age, we are informed, that Henry +the "munificent" Count of Champagne, being applied to by a poor gentleman +for a portion to enable him to marry his two daughters: his steward +remonstrated to him, "that he had given away every thing," "thou _liest_," +said Henry, "I have _thee_ left;" so he delivered over the steward to the +petitioner, who put him into confinement until he gave him 500 livres, a +handsome sum in those days. + +Bede tells us, "Archbishop Theodore, when (in the seventh century) he +gave lectures on medicine at Canterbury, remonstrated against bleeding on +the 4th day of the moon, since at that period (he said) the light of the +planet and the tides of the ocean were on the increase." Yet Theodore was, +for his era, deeply learned. + +William of Malmsbury says, "Very highly finished works in gold and silver, +were the produce even of our darkest ages. The monks were the best +artists. A jewel, now in the museum at Oxford, undoubtedly made by +command of, and worn by Alfred the Great, is an existing witness of the +height to which the art was carried. Curious reliquaries, finely wrought +and set with precious stones, were usually styled throughout Europe, +Opera Anglica." + +Howel tells us, "In the education of their children, the Anglo-Saxons +only sought to render them dauntless and apt for the two most important +occupations of their future lives--war and the chase. It was a usual +trial of a child's courage, to place him on the sloping roof of a +building, and if, without screaming or terror, he held fast, he was +styled a _stout-herce_, or brave boy." + +Fitz-Stephen says, "Thomas à Becket lived in such splendour, that besides +having silver bits to his horses, he had such numerous guests at his +banquets, that he was obliged to have rooms covered with clean hay or +straw, in winter, and green boughs or rushes in summer, every day, lest +his guests, not finding seats at his tables, should soil their gay +clothes by sitting on the floor." He would pay five pounds (equal nearly +to fifty pounds of our money) for a single dish of eels. Once riding +through London with Henry, the King seeing a wretched, shivering beggar, +"It would be a good deed (said he) to give that poor wretch a coat." +"True, (said Becket.) and you, sir, may let him have yours." "He shall +have _yours_" said Henry, and after a heavy scuffle, in which they had +nearly dismounted each other, Becket proved the weakest, and his coat was +allotted to the astonished mendicant. + +"When William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster, the people (says +Andrews) within the Abbey shouted, on the crown being placed on his head, +the Normans without, thought the noise a signal of revolt, and began to +set fire to houses, and massacre the populace, nor were they satisfied +that all was well until considerable mischief had been done." + +"Dr. Henry, (says Sulivan) who has made a very full collection of the +facts mentioned by ancient authors, concerning the provincial government +of Britain, supposes its annual revenue amounted to no less than two +millions sterling; a sum nearly as great as that which was derived from +Egypt, in the time of the father of Cleopatra. But this calculation is +built upon the authority of Lipsius. Nor are there perhaps any accounts +transmitted by historians, from which the point can be accurately +determined. The Britons excelled in agriculture. They exported great +quantities of corn, for supplying the armies in other parts of the empire. +They had linen and woollen manufactures; as their mines of lead and tin +were inexhaustible. And further we know, that Britain, in consequence of +her supposed resources, was sometimes reduced to such distress, by the +demands of government, as to be obliged to borrow money at an exorbitant +interest. In this trade, the best citizens of Rome were not ashamed to +engage; and, though prohibited by law, Seneca, whose philosophy, it seems, +was not incompatible with the love of money, lent the Britons at one time +above three hundred and twenty thousand pounds." + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +HINTS ON DRINKING. + +_Abridged from Mr. Richards's Treatise on Nervous Disorders._ + + +Without any intention of advocating the doctrine, or of commending the +reputed practice of the Pythagoreans, ancient or modern, I must be +allowed to reprobate the abuse of fermented liquors. Although wine was +invented, and its use allowed "to make glad the heart of man," and +although a moderate and prudent indulgence in it can never excite +reprobation, or cause mischief, still the sin of drunkenness is an +extensive and a filthy evil. Not only does it demoralize, debase, and +finally destroy its unhappy victim, but it renders him incapable of +performing the ordinary duties of his station; constituting him an object +of disgust to others, and of pitiable misery to himself. It is well to +talk of the Bacchanalian orgies of talented men, and to call them +hilarity and glee. The flashes of wit "that were wont to set the table in +a roar;" the brilliancy of genius, that casts a charm even over folly and +vice; the rank and fame of the individual, no doubt, increased the +fascination of his failings; but however bright and wonderful may be the +coruscations of his talent, while under the influence of wine, his frame +is debilitated, tottering, and imbecile, when the stimulus of the +potation has subsided. + +But I do not proscribe indiscriminately all stimulus. Those whose +occupations are laborious, and who are much exposed to our variable +climate, require an absolute stimulus, over and above what they eat. +Dr. Franklin advocated a contrary doctrine, and inculcated the fact, that +a twopenny loaf was much better for a man than a quart of beer; and he +adduces the horse and other beasts of burthen as examples of the +inefficacy of the use of fermented liquors. But all this is founded upon +decidedly erroneous premises. To enable a hard-working horse to go +through his toil with spirit, he must have corn, or some other article +subject to fermentation. Now, the horse, as well as many other animals, +have stomachs very capacious, and probably adapted to the production of +this fermentation. So that corn is, in fact, a powerful fermented +stimulus to the beast. + +Let us then assume, that stimulus in a certain degree is necessary to +sustain the strength and invigorate the frame of the toiling man; and the +best proof of its good effect is the comfort and energy which it imparts +to its consumer; but if this necessary stimulus be exceeded, then it is +abused, and every mouthful in addition becomes ultimately poisonous. The +first effect which is produced is upon the internal coat of the stomach, +as we may learn from the warmth which we feel. The repetition increases +the circulation of the blood, which seems, as it were, to dance through +the veins; the pulse becomes quick and full, the eyes sparkle, and the +imagination is quickened; in short, the whole frame is excited, as is +evinced by every word, look, and action. If the affair end here, well and +good; but we will suppose that the potation goes on, and very speedily a +new effect is produced. The brain, oppressed by the load of blood thrown +up into it, and irritated through its quick sympathy with the stomach; +oppressed, also, by the powerful pulsation of the larger arteries about +the head, becomes, in a degree, paralyzed. The tongue moves with +difficulty, and loses the power of distinct articulation; the limbs +become enfeebled and unsteady; the mind is deranged, being either worked +up into fury, or reduced to ridiculous puerility, and if the stimulus be +pushed farther than this, absolute insensibility ensues. Such is a brief +view of the physical progress of a debauch; and it is needless to point +out the effect of all this mischief upon the frame which is subjected to +it.[1] + +Although we have thus seen that fermented liquors, if taken to excess, +become pernicious in their effect, we must not condemn their _use_, +because their _abuse_ is bad. Why should we act and feel as if this +bountiful world, brilliant in beauty and overflowing with blessings, was +a collection of steel traps and spring guns, set to catch the body and +shoot the soul? Is it not much better and wiser to avail ourselves of the +many blessings which Providence has placed before us, than to set +ourselves to work to detect poison in our drink, and God knows what in +our meat? It savours of learning, doubtless, to do all this; but _cui +bono_? where is the _real_ utility which it produces? Our grandfathers +and their progenitors were well convinced that a good cup of +"sherris-sack" comforted the heart, and aided digestion; and why the same +opinion should not govern us, I must leave to the dieteticians to decide. + +The moderate use of wine and of malt liquors is exceedingly grateful to +our feelings, and abundantly beneficial to our constitution; but ardent +spirits are found to be so pernicious to most constitutions, and +especially to those: of the inhabitants of crowded towns and cities, that, +excepting under peculiar circumstances, it is better to discard them +altogether. A glass or two of good wine can never do any harm; neither +can a cup of good, genuine, "humming ale." The chemists tell us that the +London ale is a horrid and narcotic compound; and so, in truth, by far +the largest portion of it is. But there are two or three honest men in +the metropolis, who sell genuine Kennet, Nottingham, and Scotch ales, +from whom it is very easy to procure it quite pure. If, however, malt +liquor does not agree with the stomach, or what is the same thing, is +_supposed_ not to agree, it is a very easy matter to substitute wine for +it. + +A word or two, here, with regard to _genuine_ ale. Half of what is sold +under the name of Scotch, Kennet, &c. is manufactured at Bromley, or +elsewhere, according to prescriptions adapted to the peculiarities of +each kind. This, perhaps, is nothing very enormous; but the publicans +"_doctor_" their beer, after it has left the brewhouse, in a manner that +calls loudly for reprehension. Salt of tartar, carbonate of soda, oil of +vitriol, and green copperas (sulphate of iron) are some of the articles +in common use; and knowing this to be the case, it is really a matter of +importance to know where good, pure beer is to be obtained. The best +Kennet ale is to be had at Sherwood's, in Vine Street, Piccadilly, or at +Chapman's, in Wardour Street; both these dealers have it direct from +Butler's, at Kennet, and a very superior article it is. Nottingham ale +may be procured in casks at Sansom's, in Dean Street, Red Lion Square; +and the best Scotch ale in London, whether in draught or bottle, is at +Normington's, in Warren Street, Fitzroy Square. + + +[1] The reader, who is interested in this subject, will find in Mr. + Richards's treatise a candid description of the ill effects of + drunkenness, explained with a view to admonish, rather than to + censure the sufferer. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS + + * * * * * + +VIDOCQ + + +[In our vol. xii. we gave a few extracts from vol. i. of the _Memoirs of +Vidocq_, the principal agent of the French Police, until 1827; which +extracts we have reason to know were received with high _gout_ by most of +our readers. The second and third volumes of these extraordinary +adventures have just appeared, and contain higher-coloured depravities +than their predecessors. Some of them, indeed, might have been spared; +but as a graphic illustration of the petty thievery of Paris, the +following extract bears great merit:--] + +I do not think that amongst the readers of these Memoirs one will be +found who, even by chance, has set foot at Guillotin's. + +"Eh! what?" some one will exclaim, "Guillotin!" + + Ce savant médecin + Que l'amour du prochain + Fit mourir de chagrin. + + +"You are mistaken; we all know the celebrated doctor, who ----;" but the +Guillotin of whom I am speaking is an unsophisticated adulterer of wines, +whose establishment, well known to the most degraded classes of robbers, +is situate opposite to the Cloaque Desnoyers, which the raff of the +Barriere call the drawing-room of la Courtille. A workman may be honest +to a certain extent, and venture in, _en passant_, to papa Desnoyers's. +If he be _awake_, and keep his eye on the company, although a row should +commence, he may, by the aid of the gendarmes, escape with only a few +blows, and pay no one's scot but his own. At Guillotin's he will not come +off so well, particularly if his _toggery_ be over spruce, and his +_pouch_ has _chink_ in it. + +Picture to yourself, reader, a square room of considerable magnitude, the +walls of which, once white, have been blackened by every species of +exhalation. Such is, in all its simple modesty, the aspect of a temple +consecrated to the worship of Bacchus and Terpsichore. At first, by a +very natural optical illusion, we are struck by the confined space before +us, but the eye, after a time, piercing through the thick atmosphere of a +thousand vapours which are most inodorous, the extent becomes visible by +details which escape in the first chaotic glimpse. It is the moment of +creation, all is bright, the fog disappears, becomes peopled, is animated, +forms appear, they move, they are agitated, they are no illusory shadows; +but, on the contrary, essentially material, which cross and recross at +every moment. What beatitudes! what joyous life! Never, even for the +Epicureans, were so many felicities assembled together. Those who like to +wallow in filth, can find it here to their heart's content; many seated +at tables, on which, without ever being wiped away, are renewed a hundred +times a day the most disgusting libations, close in a square space +reserved for what they call the dancers. At the further end of this +infected cave there is, supported by four worm-eaten pillars, a sort of +alcove, constructed from broken-up ship timber, which is graced by the +appearance of two or three rags of old tapestry. It is on this chicken +coop that the music is perched: two clarinets, a hurdy-gurdy, a cracked +trumpet, and a grumbling bassoon--five instruments whose harmonious +movements are regulated by the crutch of Monsieur Double-Croche, a lame +dwarf, who is called the leader of the orchestra. Here all is in +harmony--the faces, costumes, the food that is prepared; a general +appearance is scouted. There is no closet in which walking-sticks, +umbrellas, and cloaks are deposited; the women have their hair all in +confusion like a poodle dog, and the kerchief perched on the top of the +head, or in a knot tied in front with the corners in a rosette, or if you +prefer it, a cockade, which threatens the eye in the same manner as those +of the country mules. As for the men, it is a waistcoat with a cap and +falling collar, if they have a shirt, which is the regulated costume; +breeches are not insisted on; the supreme bon ton would be an +artilleryman's cap, the frock of an hussar, the pantaloon of a lancer, +the boots of a guardsman, in fact the cast-off attire of three or four +regiments, or the wardrobe of a field of battle. The ladies adore the +cavalry, and have a decided taste for the dress of the whole army; but +nothing so much pleases them as mustachios, and a broad red cap adorned +with leather of the same colour. + +In this assembly, a beaver hat, unless napless and brimless, would be +very rare; no one ever remembers to have seen a coat there, and should +any one dare to present himself in a great coat, unless _a family man_, +he would be sure to depart skirtless, or only in his waistcoat. In vain +would he ask pardon for those flaps which had offended the eyes of the +noble assembly; too happy would he be if, after having been bandied and +knocked about with the utmost unanimity as a greenhorn, only one skirt +should be left in the hands of these youthful beauties, who, in the +fervour of gaiety, rather roar out than sing. + +Desnoyers's is the Cadran bleu de la Canaille, (the resort of the lower +orders;) but before stepping over the threshold of the cabaret of +Guillotin, even the canaille themselves look twice, as in this repository +are only to be seen prostitutes with their bullies, pick-pockets and +thieves of all classes, some _prigs_ of the lowest grade, and many of +those nocturnal marauders who divide their existence into two parts, +consecrating it to the duties of theft and riot. It may be supposed that +slang is the only language of this delightful society: it is generally in +French, but so perverted from its primitive signification, that there is +not a member of the distinguished "company of forty" who can flatter +himself with a full knowledge of it, and yet the "dons of Guillotin's" +have their purists; those who assert that slang took its rise in the East, +and without thinking for a moment of disputing their talent as +Orientalists, they take that title to themselves without any ceremony; as +also that of Argonauts, when they have completed their studies under the +direction of the galley sergeants, in working, in the port of Toulon, the +dormant navigation on board a vessel in dock. If notes were pleasing to +me, I could here seize the opportunity of making some very learned +remarks. I should, perhaps, go into a profound disquisition, but I am +about to paint the paradise of these bacchanalians; the colours are +prepared--let us finish the picture. + +If they drink at Guillotin's they eat also, and the mysteries of the +kitchen of this place of delights are well worthy of being known. The +little father Guillotin has no butcher, but he has a purveyor; and in his +brass stewpans, the verdigris of which never poisons, the dead horse is +transformed into beef a-la-mode; the thighs of the dead dogs found in Rue +Guénegaud become legs of mutton from the salt-marshes; and the magic of a +piquant sauce gives to the _staggering bob_ (dead born veal) of the +cow-feeder the appetizing look of that of Pontoise. We are told that the +cheer in winter is excellent, when the rot prevails; and if ever (during +M. Delaveau's administration) bread were scarce in summer during the +"massacre of the innocents," mutton was to be had here at a very cheap +rate. In this country of metamorphoses the hare never had the right of +citizenship; it was compelled to yield to the rabbit, and the rabbit--how +happy the rats are! + + * * * * * + +Father Guillotin consumed generally more oil than cotton, but I can, +nevertheless, affirm, that, in my time, some banquets have been spread +at his cabaret, which, subtracting the liquids, could not have cost more +at the café Riche, or at Grignon's. I remember six individuals, named +Driancourt, Vilattes, Pitroux, and three others, who found means to +spend 166 francs there in one night. In fact, each of them had with him +his favourite _bella_. The citizen no doubt pretty well fleeced them, +but they did not complain, and that quarter of an hour which Rabelais +had so much difficulty in passing, caused them no trouble; they paid +like grandees, without forgetting the waiter. I apprehended them whilst +they were paying the bill, which they had not even taken the trouble of +examining. Thieves are generous when they are caught "i' the vein." +They had just committed many considerable robberies, which they are now +repenting in the bagnes of France. + +It can scarcely be believed that in the centre of civilization, there can +exist a den so hideous as the cave of Guillotin; it must be seen, as I +have seen it, to be believed. Men and women all smoked as they danced, +the pipe passed from mouth to mouth, and the most refined gallantry that +could be offered to the nymphs who came to this rendezvous, to display +their graces in the postures and attitudes of the indecent Chahut, was, +to offer them the _pruneau_, that is, the quid of tobacco, submitted or +not, according to the degree of familiarity, to the test of a previous +mastication. The peace-officers and inspectors were characters too +greatly distinguished to appear amongst such an assemblage, they kept +themselves most scrupulously aloof, to avoid so repugnant a contact; I +myself was much disgusted with it, but at the same time was persuaded, +that to discover and apprehend malefactors it would not do to wait until +they should come and throw themselves into my arms; I therefore +determined to seek them out, and that my searches might not be fruitless, +I endeavoured to find out their haunts, and then, like a fisherman who +has found a preserve, I cast my line out with a certainty of a bite. I +did not lose my time in searching for a needle in a bottle of hay, as +the saying is; when we lack water, it is useless to go to the source of a +dried-up stream and wait for a shower of rain; but to quit all metaphor, +and speak plainly--the spy who really means to ferret out the robbers, +ought, as much as possible, to dwell amongst them, that he may grasp at +every opportunity which presents itself of drawing down upon their heads +the sentence of the laws. Upon this principle I acted, and this caused my +recruits to say that I made men robbers; I certainly have, in this way, +made a vast many, particularly on my first connexion with the police. + + * * * * * + + +CONSUMPTION OF EUROPEAN MANUFACTURES. + +_From the Memoirs of General Miller_. + +_Second Edition_. + + +The aboriginal inhabitants of Peru are gradually beginning to experience +the benefit which has been conferred upon them, by the repeal of ancient +oppressive laws. In the districts that produce gold, their exertions will +be redoubled, for they now work for themselves. They can obtain this +precious metal by merely scratching the earth, and, although the +collection of each individual may be small, the aggregate quantity thus +obtained will be far from inconsiderable. As the aborigines attain +comparative wealth, they will acquire a taste for the minor comforts of +life. The consumption of European manufactures will be increased to an +incalculable degree, and the effect upon the general commerce of the +world will be sensibly perceived. It is for the first and most active +manufacturing country in Christendom to take a proper advantage of the +opening thus afforded. Already, in those countries, British manufactures +employ double the tonnage, and perhaps exceed twenty times the value, of +the importations from all other foreign nations put together. The wines +and tasteful bagatelles of France, and the flour and household furniture +of the United States, will bear no comparison in value to the cottons of +Manchester, the linens of Glasgow, the broadcloths of Leeds, or the +hardware of Birmingham. All this is proved by the great proportion of +precious metals sent to England, as compared with the remittances to +other nations. The very watches sent by Messrs. Roskell and Co. of +Liverpool, would out-balance the exports of some of the _nations_ which +trade to South America. + + * * * * * + + +SOUTH AMERICAN MANNERS. + + +Whether it be the romantic novelty of many places in South America, the +salubrity of the climate, the free unrestrained intercourse of the more +polished classes, or whether there be some undefinable charm in that +state of society which has not passed beyond a certain point of +civilization, certain it is that few foreigners have resided for any +length of time in Chile, Peru, or in the principal towns of the Pampas, +without feeling an ardent desire to revisit them. In this number might be +named several European naval officers who have served in the Pacific, and +who nave expressed these sentiments, although they move in the very +highest circles of England and France. Countries which have not reached +the utmost pitch of refinement have their peculiar attractions, as well +as the most highly polished nations; but, to the casual resident, the +former offers many advantages unattainable in Europe. The virtue of +hospitality, exiled by luxury and refinement, exhibits itself in the New +World under such noble and endearing forms as would almost tempt the +philosopher, as well as the weary traveller, to dread the approach of the +factitious civilization that would banish it. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LABYRINTH, AT VERSAILLES. + + +[Illustration: The Labyrinth, at Versailles.] + + +This charming labyrinth is attached to _Le Petit Trianon_ at Versailles. +The palace and its gardens were formed under the reign of Louis XV., who +was there when he was attacked by the contagious disease of which he died. +Louis XVI. gave it to his queen, who took great delight in the spot, and +had the gardens laid out in the English style. The _château_, or palace, +is situated at one of the extremities of the park of the Grand Trianon, +and forms a pavilion, about seventy-two feet square. It consists of a +ground floor and two stories, decorated with fluted Corinthian columns +and pilasters crowned by a balustrade. The gardens are delightful: here +is a temple of love; there an artificial rock from which water rushes +into a lake; there a picturesque wooden bridge, a rural hamlet, grottoes, +cottages embowered in groves of trees, diversified with statues and +seats--and above all, the fascinating MAZE, the plan of which is +represented in the Engraving. + +Versailles, its magnificent palace and gardens, are altogether fraught +with melancholy associations. When we last saw them, the grounds and +buildings presented a sorry picture of neglect and decay. The mimic lakes +and ponds were green and slimy, the grottoes and shell-work crumbling +away, the fountains still, and the cascades dry. But the latter are +exhibited on certain days during the summer, when the gardens are +thronged with gay Parisians. The most interesting object however, is, the +orange-tree planted by Francis I. in 1421, which is in full health and +bearing: alas! we halted beside it, and thought of the wonderful +revolutions and uprootings that France had suffered since this tree was +planted. + +In _Le Petit Trianon_ and its grounds the interesting Queen Marie +Antoinette passed many happy hours of seclusion; and would that her +retreat had been confined to the _maze_ of Nature, rather than she had +been engaged in the political intrigues which exposed her to the fury of +a revolutionary mob. In the palace we were shown the chamber of Marie +Antoinette, where the ruffians stabbed through the covering of the bed, +the queen having previously escaped from this room to the king's chamber; +and, as if to keep up the folly of the splendid ruin, a gilder was +renovating the room of the ill-starred queen. + + * * * * * + + +RECENT BALLOON ASCENT. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +I trust you will pardon my feeble attempt last week, and I wish you had +been in the car with us, to have witnessed the magnificent scene, and the +difficulty of describing it. At our ascent we rose, in a few seconds, 600 +feet; and instantly a flood of light and beautiful scenery burst forth. +Picture to yourself the Thames with its shipping; Greenwich with its +stately Hospital and Park; Blackwall, Blackheath, Peckham, Camberwell, +Dulwich, Norwood, St. Paul's, the Tower of London, &c. and the +surrounding country, all brought immediately into your view, all +apparently receding, and lit up into magnificence by the beams of a +brilliant evening sun, (twenty-seven minutes past seven,) and then say +who can portray or describe the scene, I say I cannot. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + + +BEES. + + +The faculty, or instinct of bees is sometimes at fault, for we often hear +of their adopting the strangest and most unsuitable tenements for the +construction of cells. A hussar's cap, so suspended from a moderate sized +branch of a tree, as to be agitated by slight winds, was found filled +with bees and comb. An old coat, that had been thrown over the decayed +trunk of a tree and forgotten, was filled with comb and bees. Any thing, +in short, either near the habitations of man, or in the forests, will +serve the bees for a shelter to their combs. + +The average number of a hive, or swarm, is from fifteen to twenty +thousand bees. Nineteen thousand four hundred and ninety-nine are neuters +or working bees, five hundred are drones, and the remaining _one_ is the +queen or mother! Every living thing, from man down to an ephemeral insect, +pursues the bee to its destruction for the sake of the honey that is +deposited in its cell, or secreted in its honey-bag. To obtain that which +the bee is carrying to its hive, numerous birds and insects are on the +watch, and an incredible number of bees fall victims, in consequence, to +their enemies. Independently of this, there are the changes in the +weather, such as high winds, sudden showers, hot sunshine; and then there +is the liability to fall into rivers, besides a hundred other dangers to +which bees are exposed. + +When a queen bee ceases to animate the hive, the bees are conscious of +her loss; after searching for her through the hive, for a day or more, +they examine the royal cells, which are of a peculiar construction and +reversed in position, hanging vertically, with the mouth underneath. If +no eggs or larvae are to be found in these cells, they then _enlarge_ +several of those cells, which are appropriated to the eggs of neuters, +and in which _queen eggs have been deposited_. They soon attach a royal +cell to the enlarged surface, and the queen bee, enabled now to grow, +protrudes itself by degrees into the royal cell, and comes out perfectly +formed, to the great pleasure of the bees. + +The bee seeks only its own gratification in procuring honey and in +regulating its household, and as, according to the old proverb, what is +one man's meat is another's poison, it sometimes carries honey to its +cell, which is prejudicial to us. Dr. Barton in the fifth volume, of the +"American Philosophical Transactions," speaks of several plants that +yield a poisonous syrup, of which the bees partake without injury, but +which has been fatal to man. He has enumerated some of these plants, +which ought to be destroyed wherever they are seen, namely, dwarf-laurel, +great laurel, kalmia latifolia, broad-leaved moorwort, Pennsylvania +mountain-laurel, wild honeysuckle (the bees, cannot get much of this,) +and the stramonium or Jamestown-weed. + +A young bee can be readily distinguished from an old one, by the greyish +coloured down that covers it, and which it loses by the wear and tear of +hard labour; and if the bee be not destroyed before the season is over, +this down entirely disappears, and the groundwork of the insect is seen, +white or black. On a close examination, very few of these black or aged +bees, will be seen at the opening of the spring, as, not having the +stamina of those that are younger, they perish from inability to +encounter the vicissitudes of winter.--_American Farmer's Manual_. + + * * * * * + + +THE ELM. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +I shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who can inform me from +whence came the term _witch-elm_, a name given to a species of elm tree, +to distinguish it from the common elm. Some people have conjectured that +it was a corruption of _white elm_, and so called from the silvery +whiteness of its leaves when the sun shines upon them; but this is hardly +probable, as Sir F. Bacon in his "_Silva Silvarum_, or Natural History, +in Ten Centuries," speaks of it under the name of _weech-elm_. + +H.B.A. + + * * * * * + + +CROP OF BIRDS. + + +Besides the stomach, most birds have a membranous sac, capable of +considerable distension; it is usually called a crop, (by the scientific +_Ingluvies_,) into which the food first descends after being swallowed. +This bag is very conspicuous in the granivorous tribes immediately after +eating. Its chief use seems to be to soften the food before it is +admitted into the gizzard. In _young fowls_ it becomes sometimes +preternaturally distended, while the bird pines for want of nourishment. +This is produced by something in the crop, such as straw, or other +obstructing matter, which prevents the descent of the food into the +gizzard. In such a case, a longitudinal incision may be made in the crop, +its contents removed, and, the incision being sewed up, the fowl will, in +general, do well. + +Another curious fact relative to this subject was stated by Mr. Brookes, +when lecturing on birds at the _Zoological Society_, May 1827. He had an +eagle, which was at liberty in his garden; happening to lay two dead rats, +which had been poisoned, under a pewter basin, to which the eagle could +have access, but who nevertheless did not see him place the rats under it, +he was surprised to see, some time afterwards, the crop of the bird +considerably distended; and finding the rats abstracted from beneath the +basin, he concluded that the eagle had devoured them. Fearing the +consequences, he lost no time in opening the crop, took out the rats, and +sewed up the incision; the eagle did well and is now alive. A proof this +of the acuteness of smell in the eagle, and also of the facility and +safety with which, even in grown birds, the operation of opening the crop +may be performed.--_Jennings's Ornithologia_. + + * * * * * + + +HATCHING. + + +The following singular fact was first brought into public notice by +Mr. Yarrel; and will be found in his papers in the second volume of the +_Zoological Journal_. The fact alluded to is, that there is attached to +the upper mandible of all young birds about to be hatched a _horny +appendage_, by which they are enabled more effectually to make +perforations in the shell, and contribute to their own liberation. This +sharp prominence, to use the words of Mr. Yarrel, becomes opposed to the +shell at various points, in a line extending throughout its whole +circumference, about one third below the larger end of the egg; and a +series of perforations more or less numerous are thus effected by the +increasing strength of the chick, weakening the shell in a direction +opposed to the muscular power of the bird; it is thus ultimately enabled, +by its own efforts, to break the walls of its prison. In the common fowl, +this horny appendage falls off in a day or two after the chick is hatched; +in the pigeon it sometimes remains on the beak ten or twelve days; this +arises, doubtless, from the young pigeons being fed by the parent bird +for some time after their being hatched; and thus there is no occasion +for the young using the beak for picking up its food.--_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +MAN.--A FRAGMENT. + + + Man is a monster, + The fool of passion and the slave of sin. + No laws can curb him when the will consents + To an unlawful deed. + +CYMBELINE. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + + +THE CHOSEN ONE. + + + "Here's a long line of beauties--see! + Ay, and as varied as they're many-- + Say, can I guess the one would be + Your choice among them all--if any?" + + "I doubt it,--for I hold as dust + Charms many praise beyond all measure-- + While gems they treat as lightly, _must_ + Combine to form my chosen treasure." + + "Will this do?"--"No;--that hair of gold, + That brow of snow, that eye of splendour, + Cannot redeem the mien so cold, + The air so stiff, so quite _un-tender_." + + "This then?"--"Far worse! _Can_ lips like these + Thus smile as though they asked the kiss?-- + Thinks she that e'en such eyes can please, + Beaming--there is no word--like _this?_" + + "Look on that singer at the harp, + Of her you cannot speak thus--ah, no!" + --"Her! why she's _formed_ of flat and sharp-- + I doubt not she's a fine soprano!" + + "The next?"--"What, she who lowers her eyes + From sheer mock-modesty--so pert, + So doubtful-mannered?--I despise + Her, and all like her--she's a _Flirt!_ + + "And this is why my spleen's above + The power of words;--'tis that they can + Make the vile semblance be to Love + Just what the Monkey is to Man! + + "But yonder I, methinks, can trace + One _very_ different from these-- + Her features speak--her form is Grace + Completed by the touch of Ease! + + "That opening lip, that fine frank eye + Breathe Nature's own true gaiety-- + So sweet, so rare _when thus_, that I + Gaze on't with joy, nay ecstacy! + + "For when _'tis_ thus, you'll also see + That eye still richer gifts express-- + And on that lip there oft will be + A sighing smile of tenderness! + + "Yes! here a matchless spirit dwells + E'en for that lovely dwelling fit!-- + I gaze on her--my bosom swells + With feelings, thoughts,----oh! exquisite! + + "That such a being, noble, tender, + So fair, so delicate, so dear, + Would let one love her, and _befriend_ her!-- + --Ah, yes, _my_ Chosen One is here!" + +_London Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +TRAVELLING ON THE CONTINENT. + + +The man whom we have known to be surrounded by respect and attachment at +home, whose life is honourable and useful within his proper sphere, we +have seen with his family drudging along continental roads, painfully +disputing with postilions in bad French, insulted by the menials of inns, +fretting his time and temper with the miserable creatures who inflict +their tedious ignorance under the name of guides, and only happy in +reaching any term to the journey which fashion or family entreaty have +forced upon him. We are willing, however, to regard such instances as +casual, and proving only that travelling, like other pleasures, has its +alloys; but stationary residence abroad brings with it other and more +serious evils. To the animation of a changing scene of travel, succeeds +the tedious idleness of a foreign town, with scanty resources of society, +and yet scantier of honourable or useful occupation. Here also we do but +describe what we have too frequently seen--the English gentleman, who at +home would have been improving his estates, and aiding the public +institutions of his country, abandoned to utter insignificance; his mind +and resources running waste for want of employment, or, perchance, turned +to objects to which even idleness might reasonably be preferred. We have +seen such a man loitering along his idle day in streets, promenades, or +coffee-houses; or sometimes squandering time and money at the +gambling-table, a victim because an idler. The objects of nature and art, +which originally interested him, cease altogether to do so. + +We admit many exceptions to this picture; but we, nevertheless, draw it +as one which will be familiar to all, who have been observers on the +continent. One circumstance must further be added to the outline; we mean, +the detachment from religious habits, which generally and naturally +attends such residence abroad. The means of public worship exist to our +countrymen but in few places; and there under circumstances the least +propitious to such duties. Days speedily become all alike; or if Sunday +be distinguished at all, it is but as the day of the favourite opera, or +most splendid ballet of the week. We are not puritanically severe in our +notions, and we intend no reproach to the religious or moral habits of +other nations. We simply assert, that English families removed from out +of the sphere of those proper duties, common to every people, and from +all opportunities of public worship or religious example, incur a risk +which is very serious in kind, especially to those still young and +unformed in character. + +_Quarterly Review._ + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT FARRIERY. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The following curious verses are copied from an engraving which the +Farriers' Company have lately had taken from an old painting of their +pedigree, on vellum, at the George and Vulture Tavern. + + If suche may boast as by a subtile arte, + Canne without labour make excessive gayne, + And under name of Misterie imparte, + Unto the worlde the Crafie's but of their brayne. + How muche more doe their praise become men's themes + That bothe by art and labour gett their meanes. + + And of all artes that worthe or praise doeth merite, + To none the _Marshall Farrier's_ will submitt, + That bothe by Physicks, arte, force, hands, and spiritt + The Kinge and subject in peace and warre doe fitt, + Many of Tuball boast first Smythe that ever wrought, + But _Farriers_ more do, doe than Tuball ever taught. + + Three things there are that _Marshalry_ doe prove + To be a Misterie exceeding farre, + Those wilie Crafte's that many men doe love. + Is unfitt for peace and more unaptt for warre, + For Honor, Anncestrie, and for Utilitie, + _Farriers_ may boast their artes habilitie, + + For Honor, view, this anncient Pedigree[1] + Of Noble Howses, that did beare the name + Of _Farriers_, and were _Earles_; as you may see, + That used the arte and did supporte the same, + And to perpetuall honour of the Crafte, + Castells they buylt and to succession left. + + For anncestrie of tyme oh! who canne tell + The first beginning of so old a trade, + For Horses were before the Deluge fell, + And cures, and shoes, before that tyme were made, + We need not presse tyme farther then it beares, + A Company have _Farriers_ beene 300 Yeres!! + + And in this _Cittie London_ have remayned + Called by the name of _Marshall Farriers_, + Which title of Kinge Edward the Third was gaynde, + For service done unto him in his warres, + A _Maister_ and two _Wardens_ in skill expert, + The trade to rule and give men their desert. + + And for utilitie that cannot be denied, + That many are the Proffitts that arise + To all men by the _Farriers_ arte beside. + To them they are tied, by their necessities, + From the Kinge's steede unto the ploweman's cart, + All stande in neede of _Farriers_ skillfull arte. + + In peace at hande the _Farriers_ must be hadde, + For lanncing, healinge, bleedinge, and for shooeinge, + In Warres abroade of hym they wille be gladd + To cure the wounded Horsse, still he is douinge, + In peace or warre abroade, or ellse at home, + To Kinge and Countrie that some good may come. + + Loe! thus you heare the _Farriers_ endelesss praise, + God grant it last as many yeres as it hath lasted Daies. + +Anno Dni 1612. + +G.W. + + +[1] It commences from Henri de Ferrer, Lord of Tetbury, a Norman who came + over with William the Conqueror. + + * * * * * + + +CURIOUS SCRAPS. + + +We read of a beautiful table, "wherein Saturn was of copper, Jupiter of +gold, Mars of iron, and the Sun of silver, the eyes were charmed, and the +mind instructed by beholding the circles. The Zodiac and all its signs +formed with wonderful art, of metals and precious stones." + +Was not this an imperfect orrery? + +In 1283, say the annals of Dunstable, "We sold our slave by birth, +William Pike, with all his family, and received one mark from the buyer." +Men must have been cheaper than horses. + +In 1340, gunpowder and guns were first invented by Swartz, a monk of +Cologne. In 1346, Edward III. had four pieces of cannon, which +contributed to gain him the battle of Cressy. Bombs and mortars were +invented about this time. + +In 1386, the magnificent castle of Windsor was built by Edward III. and +his method of conducting the work may serve as a specimen of the +condition of the people in that age. Instead of engaging workmen by +contracts or wages, he assessed every county in England to send him a +certain number of masons, tilers, and carpenters, as if he had been +levying an army. + +In 1654, the air pump was invented by Otto Guericke, a German. + +1406, B.C. Iron first discovered by burning the woods on Mount Ida, in +Greece. + +720, B.C. The first lunar eclipse on record. + +Anaximander, the disciple of Thales, invented maps and globes; born about +610 B.C. + +894, B.C. Gold and silver money first coined at Argos, in Greece. + +274, A.D. Silk first imported from India. + +664, A.D. Glass first invented in England by O. Benalt, a monk. + +1284, A.D. The Alphonsine Astronomical Tables constructed, under the +patronage of Alphonso X. of Laon and Castile. + +1337, A.D. The first comet described with astronomical precision. + +The first diving bell we read of was a very large kettle suspended by +ropes with the mouth downwards, and planks fixed in the middle of its +concavity. Two Greeks at Toledo in 1583, made an experiment with it +before Charles V. They descended in it with a lighted candle to a great +depth. + +The Odyssey was written upon the skin of a serpent. + +Formerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it +might easily be broken into two or four parts. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK + + * * * * * + + +SKETCH OF THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS. + +_By an officer engaged._ + + +The Leander, fitted for the flag of Rear-Admiral Milne, was at Spithead, +in June, 1816, when Lord Exmouth arrived with a squadron from the +Mediterranean, where a dispute had arisen between the Dey of Algiers and +his lordship, in consequence of a massacre that took place at Bona, on +the persons of foreigners, then under the protection of the British flag. + +When the particulars were made known to government, Lord Exmouth was +ordered to return to Algiers, and to demand, in the name of the Prince +Regent, instant reparation for the insult offered to England. The +squadron being still on the war establishment, the crews were discharged, +and another expedition was ordered to be equipped with all possible +dispatch. The Leander instantly offered her services, and she soon had +the satisfaction to hear, that they were graciously accepted, and never +was greater joy expressed throughout her crew, than when her Captain +(Chetham) announced the determination of the Admiralty, that she was to +complete to the war complement; an extra lieutenant (Monk) was appointed, +a rendezvous for volunteers opened on the Point at Portsmouth, and in ten +days she was ready for sea, with 480 men on board. + +The flag of Rear-Admiral Milne was hoisted, and the Leander sailed for +Plymouth, where she anchored in two days, and joined part of the squadron +intended for the same service: the Queen Charlotte, bearing the flag of +Lord Exmouth, soon appeared, and on the 29th of July, the expedition +sailed from England with a fine easterly breeze. + +The expedition arrived at Gibraltar in eleven days, when it was joined by +a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a corvette, under the command of +Vice-Admiral Von Capellan; five gun-boats were fitted out and manned by +the ships of the line, and two transports were hired to attend with +ammunition, &c. All lumber and bulkheads, were landed at the dock-yard; +the ships were completed with water, and in all points ready for sea by +the 13th of August. The Rear-Admiral shifted his flag into the +Impregnable, and on the 14th the combined expedition sailed for Algiers. +The Leander was ordered to take a transport in tow, and keep on the +Admiral's weather-beam, and the Dutchmen kept to windward of all. We were +met by an easterly wind two days after leaving Gibraltar, and on the +third day we were joined by the Prometheus, from Algiers, whither she had +been dispatched to bring away the British Consul; the Dey, however, was +apprized of the expedition and detained him, as well as two boats' crews +of the Prometheus, but the Consul's wife and daughter escaped, and got +safely on board. + +The foul wind prevented the squadron making much way, but the +time was employed to advantage in constant exercise at the guns, and the +men were brought as near to perfection as they could be; in handling them +each man knew his own duty, as well as that of the captain of the gun, +fireman, boarder, powder-man, rammer, &c. Each took his turn to the +several duties, and continued changing up to the 27th. + +The coast of Africa was seen on Monday, and as the day dawned on Tuesday, +the 27th, Algiers appeared about ten miles off. The morning was +beautifully fine, with a haze which foretold the coming heat: as the +morning advanced, the breeze failed us, but at nine o'clock we had neared +the town to within about five miles; the long line of batteries were +distinctly seen, with the red flag flying in all directions, and the +masts of the shipping showed above the walls of the mole. The Severn, +with a flag of truce flying, was detached with the terms of the Prince +Regent, and this was a most anxious period, for we were in the dark as to +the feelings of the Dey, whether the offered terms were such as he could +consistently accept, or that left him no alternative but resistance. +During this state of suspense, our people were, as usual, exercised at +the guns, the boats hoisted out, and prepared for service by signal, and +at noon we were ready for action. + +The ship's company were piped to dinner, and at one o'clock the captain +and officers sat down to theirs in the gun-room, the principal dish of +which was a substantial sea pie; wine was pledged in a bumper to a +successful attack, and a general expression of hope for an unsuccessful +negotiation. At this time, the officer of the watch reported to the +captain, that the admiral had made the general telegraph "Are you ready?" +Chetham immediately directed that our answer "ready" should be shown, and +at the same moment the like signal was flying at the mastheads of the +entire squadron. The mess now broke up, each individual of it quietly +making arrangements with the other in the event of accident, and we had +scarcely reached the deck, when the signal "to bear up" was out, the +commander in-chief leading the way, with a fine, steady breeze blowing on +the land. We ran in on the admiral's larboard-beam, keeping within two +cables' length of him; the long guns were loaded with round and grape, +the carronades with grape only; our sail was reduced to the topsails, and +topgallant sails, the main-sail furled, and the boats dropped astern in +tow. The ships were now steering to their appointed stations, and the +gun-boats showing their eagerness, by a crowd of sail, to get alongside +the batteries. As we drew towards the shore, the Algerines were observed +loading their guns, and a vast number of spectators were assembled on the +beach, idly gazing at the approach of the squadron, seemingly quite +unconscious of what was about to happen. Far different were appearances +at the mouth of the mole as it opened; the row-boats, fully manned, were +lying on their oars, quite prepared for the attack, and we fully expected +they would attempt to board, should an opportunity offer; each boat had a +flag hanging over the stern. A frigate was moored across the mouth of the +mole, and a small brig was at anchor outside of her. + +At fifteen minutes before three P.M. the Queen Charlotte came to an +anchor by the stern, at the distance of sixty yards from the beach, and, +as was ascertained by measurement, ninety yards from the muzzles of the +guns of the mole batteries, unmolested, and with all the quietude of a +friendly harbour; her flag flew at the main, and the colours at the peak; +her starboard broadside flanked the whole range of batteries from the +mole head to the lighthouse; her topsail yards (as were those of the +squadron,) remained aloft, to be secure from fire, and the sails brought +snugly to the yards by head-lines previously fitted; the topgallant sails +and small sails only were furled, so that we had no man unnecessarily +exposed aloft. + +The Leander, following the motions of the admiral, was brought up with +two anchors by the stern, let go on his larboard beam, veered away, until +she obtained a position nearly a-head of him, then let go an anchor under +foot, open by this to a battery on the starboard side at the bottom of +the mole, and to the Fish-market battery on the larboard side. At this +moment Lord Exmouth was seen waving his hat on the poop to the idlers on +the beach to get out of the way, then a loud cheer was heard, and the +whole of the Queen Charlotte's tremendous broadside was thrown into the +batteries abreast of her; this measure was promptly taken, as the smoke +of a gun was observed to issue from some part of the enemy's works, so +that the sound of the British guns was heard almost in the same instant +with that to which the smoke belonged. The cheers of the Queen Charlotte +were loudly echoed by those of the Leander, and the contents of her +starboard broadside as quickly followed, carrying destruction into the +groups of row-boats; as the smoke opened, the fragments of boats were +seen floating, their crews swimming and scrambling, as many as escaped +the shot, to the shore; another broadside annihilated them. The enemy was +not slack in returning this warm salute, for almost before the shot +escaped from _our_ guns, a man standing on the forecastle bits, hauling +on the topsail buntlines, received a musket bullet in his left arm, which +broke the bone, and commenced the labours in the cockpit. The action +became general as soon as the ships had occupied their positions, and we +were engaged with the batteries on either side; so close were we, that +the enemy were distinctly seen loading their guns above us. After a few +broadsides, we brought our starboard broadside to bear on the Fish-market, +and our larboard side then looked to seaward. The rocket-boats were now +throwing rockets over our ships into the mole, the effects of which, were +occasionally seen on the shipping on our larboard bow. The Dutch flag was +to be seen flying at the fore of the Dutch Admiral, who, with his +squadron, were engaging the batteries to the eastward of the mole. The +fresh breeze which brought us in was gradually driven away by the +cannonade, and the smoke of our guns so hung about us, that we were +obliged to wait until it cleared; for the men took deliberate and certain +aims, training their guns until they were fully satisfied of their +precision. But our enemies gave us no reason to suppose that they were +idle; so great was the havoc which they made amongst us, that the surgeon +in his report stated, that sixty-five men were brought to him wounded +after the first and second broadsides. + +About four o'clock, a boat, with an officer, came with orders from the +admiral to cease firing, as an attempt to destroy the Algerine frigates +was about to be made. Accordingly three boats pushed into the mole, +running the gantlet in gallant style; they boarded the outermost frigate, +which was found deserted by her crew; and in a few minutes she was in a +blaze; in doing this the boats' crews suffered severely. The smoke of our +last broadside had scarcely left us, when the Algerines renewed their +fire of musketry upon our decks, fortunately the men were lying down by +the guns, and the officers alone were marks for them, but one midshipman +was their only victim at this time. The masts began to suffer in all +parts, splinters were falling from them, and shreds of canvass from the +sails came down upon us in great quantities; traces, bowlines, and other +running gear, suffered equally; the shrouds, fore and aft, got cut up so +quickly, that the rigging men attempted in vain to knot them, and were at +last forced to leave the rigging to its fate. + +When the boats returned, we recommenced our fire with renewed vigour; +occasionally a flag-staff was knocked down, a fact which was always +announced with a cheer, each captain of a gun believing himself to be the +faithful marksman. The Algerine squadron now began, as it were, to follow +the motions of the outer frigate; the rockets had taken effect, and they +all burned merrily together. A hot shot, about this time, struck a +powder-box, on which was sitting the powder-boy, he, poor fellow, was +blown up, and another near him was dreadfully scorched. + +Through the intervals of smoke, the sad devastation in the enemy's works +was made visible; the whole of the mole head, near the Queen Charlotte, +was a ruin, and the guns were consequently silenced; but we were not so +fortunate with the Fish-market; the guns there still annoyed us, and ours +seemed to make no impression. A battery in the upper angle of the town +was also untouched, and we were so much under it, that the shot actually +came through our decks, without touching the bulwarks, and we could not +elevate our guns sufficiently to check them. + +As the sun was setting behind the town, the whole of the shipping in the +mole were in flames; their cables burned through, left them at the mercy +of every breeze: the outermost frigate threatened the Queen Charlotte +with a similar fate, but a breeze sent her clear on towards the Leander; +a most intense heat came from her, and we expected every moment to be in +contact; the flames were burning with great power at the mast heads, and +the loose fire was flying about in such a way that there seemed little +chance of our escaping, but we checked her progress towards us, by firing +into her, and in the act of hauling out, we were rejoiced to see a +welcome sea-breeze alter the direction of the flames aloft, the same +breeze soon reached her hull, and we had the satisfaction in a few +minutes to see her touch the shore to which she belonged. + +The guns were now so much heated by the incessant fire kept up, that we +were forced to reduce the cartridges nearly one-half, as well as to wait +their cooling before reloading; the men, too, were so reduced at some +guns, that they required the assistance of the others to work them; the +aftermost gun on the gangway had only two men left untouched, Between +seven and eight o'clock, the fire of the enemy's guns had sensibly +diminished, and their people were running in crowds from the demolished +works to the great gate of the city; they were distinctly seen in all +their movements by the light of their burning navy and arsenal. The +battery in the upper angle of the town, which, was too high to fire upon, +kept up a galling fire, and another further to the eastward was still at +work. To bring our broadside to bear upon it, a hawser was run out to the +Severn, on our larboard bow, the ship was swung to the proper bearing, +and we soon checked them. At 45 minutes past nine, the squadron began to +haul out, some making sail, and taking advantage of a light air off the +land, while others were towing and warping: the only sail which we had +fit to set, was the main-topmast staysail, and this was of too stout +canvass to feel the breeze; the boats of our own ship were unable to move +her, after a kedge anchor, which was run out to the length of the +stream-cable, had come home; thus we were left, dependant either on a +breeze or the assistance of the squadron. An officer was sent to tell the +admiral our situation, but the boat was sunk from under the crew, who +were picked up by another; a second boat was more successful, and the +admiral ordered all the boats he could collect to our assistance. At this +time the Severn, near us, had caught the breeze, and was moving steadily +out; a hawser was made fast to her mizen-chains secured to its bare end, +which had just sufficient length to reach the painter of the headmost +boat, towing; by this means the Leander's head was checked round, and we +had again the gratification to see her following the others of the +squadron. The small portion of our sails were set to assist our progress; +but without the help of the Severn there we should have remained; our +mizen-topmast fell into the maintop, shot through. When the Algerines saw +us retiring they returned to the guns which they had previously abandoned, +and again commenced a fire on the boats, which made the water literally +in a foam; this fire was returned by our quarter guns, but with very +little effect. As we left the land, the breeze increased; the Severn cast +off her tow, and our boats returned on board: at 25 minutes past eleven +we fired our last gun, and the cannonade was succeeded by a storm of +thunder and lightning. At midnight we anchored within three miles of the +scene of action; the report of a gun on shore was still heard at +intervals, but all was soon quiet, except the shipping in the mole, which +continued to burn, keeping all around brilliantly illuminated. We now +attempted to furl sails, but the men were so thoroughly stiffened by the +short period of inaction since the firing had ceased, that they stuck +almost powerless to the yards; after great exertion, the gaskets were +somehow passed round the yards, and the labours of the day ended; grog +was served out, and the hammocks piped down, but few had the inclination +to hang them up. + +Soon after daylight we mustered at quarters, and found that 16 officers +and men were killed, and 120 wounded; the three lower masts badly wounded, +every spar wounded, except the spanker-boom; the shrouds cut in all parts, +leaving the masts unsupported, which would have fallen had there been the +least motion; the running gear entirely cut to pieces; the boats _all_ +shot through; the bulwarks riddled with grape and musketry; 96 round-shot +in the starboard side, some of them between wind and water; the guns were +all uninjured to any extent, and remained, the only part of the Leander, +efficient. + +The ship's company were again at work, clearing decks, unbending sails, +and making every preparation to renew the action; but at noon we had the +satisfaction to hear that the Dey had accepted the terms which were +offered him the day before; at the same time that this information was +conveyed to the squadron, a general order was issued to offer up "public +thanksgiving to Almighty God for the signal victory obtained by the arms +of England."--_United Service Journal_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + "A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." +SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +THE RANZ DES VACHES. + + +The Kurieholen, or Ranz des Vaches, the celebrated national air of the +Swiss, does not consist in articulated sounds, nor is it accompanied by +words; but is a simple melody formed by a kind of guttural intonation +very closely resembling the tones of a flute. Two of these voices at a +short distance produce the most pleasing effect, the echoes of the +surrounding rocks reverberating the music till it seems like enchantment; +but sometimes the illusion is dissipated by the appearance of the singers, +in the persons of two old women, returning from their labour in a +neighbouring valley. + +INA. + + * * * * * + + +NAPOLEON. + + +During a tour through France shortly before Bonaparte's accession to the +throne he received the addresses of the Priests and Prefects, who vied +with each other in the grossness and impiety of their adulation. The +Prefect of the Pas de Calais seems to have borne away the palm from all +his brethren. On Napoleon's entrance into his department, he addressed +him in the following manner:--"Tranquil with respect to our fate, we know +that to ensure the happiness and glory of France, to render to all people +the freedom of commerce and the seas, to humble the audacious destroyers +of the repose of the universe, and to fix, at length, peace upon the +earth, God created Bonaparte, and rested from his labour!" + +INA. + + * * * * * + + +APOSTLES. + + +In the diplomatic language of Charles I.'s time, were marginal notes, +generally in the king's hand, written on the margin of state papers. The +word, in somewhat a similar sense, had its origin in the canon law. There +are many instances of apostles by Charles I. in Archbishop Laud's Diary + +JAMES SILVESTER. + + * * * * * + + +When Voltaire was at Berlin, he wrote this epigram on his patron and host +the king of Prussia:-- + + "King, author, philosopher, hero, musician, + Freemason, economist, bard, politician, + How had Europe rejoiced if a _Christian_ he'd been, + If a man, how he then had enraptured his queen." + + +For this effort of wit, Voltaire was paid with thirty lashes on his bare +back, administered by the king's sergeant-at-arms, and was compelled to +sign the following curious receipt for the same:-- + + "Received from the righthand of Conrad + Backoffner, thirty lashes on my bare + back, being in full for an epigram on + Frederick the Third, King of Prussia." + + +I say received by me, VOLTAIRE. + +_Vive le Roi_! + + * * * * * + + +The church at Gondhurst, in Kent, is a fine old building, and remarkable +for several reasons; one of which is, that thirty-nine different parishes +may be distinctly seen from it, and in clear weather the sea, off +Hastings, a distance of twenty-seven miles and a half. + + * * * * * + + +SPECULATION. + + +Sir William Adams, afterwards Sir William Rawson, which name he took in +consequence of some property he succeeded to by right of his wife, was one +of the victims of the South American mining mania. He plunged deeply into +speculation, and wrote pamphlets to prove that so much gold and silver +must ultimately find its way into Europe from Mexico, that all the +existing relations of value would be utterly destroyed. He believed what +he wrote, though he failed to demonstrate what he believed. At one period +he might have withdrawn himself from all his speculations with at least a +hundred thousand pounds in his pocket; but he fancied he had discovered +the philosopher's stone--dreamed of wealth beyond what he could +count--went on--was beggared--and you know how and where he died. Poor +fellow! He deserved a better fate. He was a kind-hearted creature; and if +he coveted a princely fortune, I am satisfied he would have used it like +a prince. But I am forgetting my story. Well, then, it was after he had +totally relinquished his profession as an oculist, that he might devote +his entire time and attention to the Mexican mining affairs, that a +gentleman, ignorant of the circumstance, called upon him one morning to +consult him. Sir William looked at him for a moment, and then exclaimed, +in the words of Macbeth, addressing Banquo's ghost, "Avaunt--there is _no +speculation_ in those eyes!" + +_Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + +THE SUPPLEMENT to Vol. xiii. containing _Title, Preface, Index, &c. with +a fine Steel-plate_ PORTRAIT _of the late_ SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, Bart. _and a +copious Memoir of his Life and Discoveries--will be published with the +next Number._ + + * * * * * + + +_LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS._ + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. Price 5s. +boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + + +Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. + +BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. + +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) +London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; and by all +Newsmen and Booksellers_. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11361 *** |